The relationship between the use of film in photography and cinema is explored by Sam Samore in his latest series Accumulation of Shapes (Part One), which employs the acting talents of French actress Juliette Dol to help convey its mysterious, deliberately obscured stories. The central device of the veteran’s collection is the splicing together of two photographic images shot moments apart, presenting the pair as one image with a black bar marking the join and mimicking both the cinematic device of split-screen, and also alluding to the shape and borders of cinematic and photographic film cells.
The narrative of Samore’s scenes are ambiguous; although the viewer is able to easily recognise the situation or action – lying clothed in a bath full of water, lying on a bed, or walking through a doorway – Samore’s choice of crop and voyeuristic viewpoint doesn’t reveal the whole story. Despite the images being closely related in terms of time and content, it is impossible to completely reconcile the two halves as a whole, and Dol is afforded a degree of privacy by the disruptive effect of the dividing line through the image. The exhibition is currently being held at the Grand Street branch of New York’s Team (gallery inc.), and closing date is 21 December.
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#4), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#2), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#3), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#1), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#7), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#8), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#9), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
Sam Samore
Accumulation of Shapes (#6), 2014
archival ink on rag paper
29 x 49 inches; 74 cm x 124 cm
